was a Japanese theatrical and film director, critic, and author. First coming to prominence for his theatrical criticism, in the 1940s and 1950s he produced influential and popular experimental
kabuki
is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.
Kabuki is thought to ...
plays. Beginning in the mid-1950s, he continued his innovative theatrical work in ''
noh
is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art that is still regularly performed today. Although the terms Noh and ' ...
'', ''
kyōgen
is a form of traditional Japanese comic theater. It developed alongside ''Noh'', was performed along with ''Noh'' as an intermission of sorts between ''Noh'' acts on the same stage, and retains close links to ''Noh'' in the modern day; therefo ...
'' and modern theater. In late 1956 and early 1957 he hosted a popular TV program, ''The Tetsuji Takechi Hour'', which featured his reinterpretations of Japanese stage classics.
In the 1960s, Takechi entered the film industry by producing controversial soft-core theatrical pornography. His 1964 film ''
Daydream
Daydreaming is the stream of consciousness that detaches from current, external tasks when attention drifts to a more personal and internal direction. This phenomenon is common in people's daily life shown by a large-scale study in which partici ...
'' was the first big-budget, mainstream ''
pink film
in its broadest sense includes almost any Japanese theatrical film that includes nudity (hence 'pink') or deals with sexual content. This encompasses everything from dramas to action thrillers and exploitation film features. The Western equiv ...
'' released in Japan. After the release of his 1965 film ''
Black Snow'', the government arrested him on indecency charges. The trial became a public battle over censorship between Japan's intellectuals and the government. Takechi won the lawsuit, enabling the wave of softcore ''pink films'' which dominated Japan's domestic cinema during the 1960s and 1970s.
In the later 1960s, Takechi produced three more ''pink films''.
Takechi did not work in film during most of the 1970s. In the 1980s, he remade ''Daydream'' twice, starring actress
Kyōko Aizome
is a Japanese erotic actress, singer, writer, and AV and film director. She has been called "the first hard-core porn actress in Japan".
Life and career
Early life
Kyōko Aizome was born in Noda Chiba Prefecture. She grew up in a troubled hou ...
in both films. The first
''Daydream'' remake (1981) is considered the first theatrical
hardcore pornographic film in Japan. Though Takechi is largely unknown in Japan today, he was influential in both the cinema and the theater during his lifetime, and his innovations in kabuki were felt for decades. He also helped shape the future of the ''pink film'' in Japan through his battles against governmental censorship, earning him the titles, "The Father of Pink" and "The Father of Japanese Porn."
Life and career
Early life
Tetsuji Takechi was born Tetsuji Kawaguchi in
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
on 10 December 1912 to a family headed by a wealthy industrialist.
He studied
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...
at
Kyoto National University and graduated in 1936. Takechi first became known for his criticism and theoretical writings on the theater.
In 1939 he began publishing a journal, ''Stage Review'' in which he printed his writings on the theater. In the early 1940s, he began publishing collections of these writings in book form. When World War II came to an end, Takechi used his inheritance from his father to establish a theatrical troupe.
Under his direction, the Takechi Kabuki, as the group was known, put Takechi's theatrical ideas into practise by giving innovative and popular performances of kabuki classics in Osaka from 1945 to 1955.
Takechi Kabuki
The immediate post-World War II era was a difficult time for kabuki. Besides the devastation caused to major Japanese cities as a result of the war, the popular trend was to reject the styles and thoughts of the past, kabuki among them.
Also, during the early years of the
Allied Occupation of Japan
Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the
Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States wi ...
, the occupying authorities banned kabuki as feudalistic and detrimental to the public morals, though by 1947 this ban was lifted. Other traditional forms of theater, such as noh and ''
bunraku
(also known as ) is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theatre, founded in Osaka in the beginning of the 17th century, which is still performed in the modern day. Three kinds of performers take part in a performance: the or ( puppeteers ...
'', seen as less flamboyant and violent than kabuki, received less attention from Occupation censors. Kabuki scholars credit Takechi's innovative productions of the kabuki classics with bringing about a rebirth of interest in the kabuki in the
Kansai region
The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropolita ...
after this low point in kabuki history.
Takechi revitalized kabuki by reaching out to the other theatrical forms—
noh
is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art that is still regularly performed today. Although the terms Noh and ' ...
, ''
kyōgen
is a form of traditional Japanese comic theater. It developed alongside ''Noh'', was performed along with ''Noh'' as an intermission of sorts between ''Noh'' acts on the same stage, and retains close links to ''Noh'' in the modern day; therefo ...
'', and the modern theater and dance—for new ideas and collaboration. He broke through long-established barriers which existed between these theatrical forms, and even between kabuki schools, to create an energetic new form of kabuki. Despite his maverick nature, Takechi gave great attention to the classic kabuki texts, and emphasized to his actors the need to inhabit the roles they played. His approach to a new interpretation of the old texts was to "psychologize" them. By bringing out the psychology already present in the classic texts, Takechi felt that actors could interpret their roles with vitality and energy which he felt was lacking in contemporary performances. Of the many popular young stars of the kabuki who performed under Takechi, Nakamura Ganjiro III (born 1931) was the leading figure. At first known as Nakamura Senjaku, this period in Osaka kabuki became known as the "Age of Senjaku" in his honor.
Theater work after Takechi Kabuki
Takechi's innovations in kabuki brought him to the attention of the Shigeyama family, a longtime major force in comic ''
kyōgen
is a form of traditional Japanese comic theater. It developed alongside ''Noh'', was performed along with ''Noh'' as an intermission of sorts between ''Noh'' acts on the same stage, and retains close links to ''Noh'' in the modern day; therefo ...
'' plays. With the Shigeyamas, Takechi created and directed the ''kyōgen'', ''Susugigawa'' (''The Washing River''), in 1953. Based on a medieval French farce, this play became the first new ''kyōgen'' to enter the traditional repertoire in a century. Takechi saw in ''kyōgen'' a more direct link to a native Japanese folk theatrical tradition, and through the ''kyōgen'' wanted to link these folk traditions with the modern theater. As a Western analogy of his intentions, Takechi pointed to the works of
Ibsen
Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...
and
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...
which had their roots in the classical theater of
Racine
Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditio ...
,
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...
and
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
.
In 1954, Takechi followed ''Susugigawa'' with a ''noh''-''kyōgen'' version of
Junji Kinoshita
was the foremost playwright of modern drama in postwar Japan. He was also a translator and scholar of Shakespeare's plays. Kinoshita’s achievements were not limited to Japan.Kinoshita, Junji. Between God and Man: A Judgment on War Crimes: a Play ...
's ''Yūzuru''. ''Yūzuru'' is one of the most successful Japanese post-World War II plays, having received over a thousand performances at schools and theaters both within Japan and internationally since its debut in 1949. Composer
Ikuma Dan
was a Japanese composer.
Biography
Dan was born in Tokyo, the descendant of a prominent family, his grandfather Baron Dan Takuma having been President of Mitsui before being assassinated in 1932. He graduated from Aoyama Gakuin and Tokyo M ...
wrote an opera version of the play in 1952. Since its premiere, Dan's opera has been performed more than 550 times, making it possibly the most popular opera written in Japanese. Dan was recruited to write the original music for Takechi's production of the play. Dan combined the noh-style solo vocal lines with a Western orchestra and chorus. On the same program as ''Yūzuru'' was another Takechi-directed ''kyōgen'', ''Higashi wa Higashi'' (''East is East''), a parody of the ''kyōgen'' style. Among the innovations Takechi made in this play was the inclusion of a former
Takarazuka actress in the usually all-male ''kyōgen'' cast. In the ultra-conservative noh and ''kyōgen'' communities, simply appearing in a rival school's production could result in an actor's excommunication from the profession. Because of the public attention drawn through Takechi's relentless publicity work and communication with the media, punitive actions against actors who worked with Takechi were avoided.
Besides his work as a theatrical theorist and director, Takechi occasionally appeared in acting roles on the stage and screen. In his series of
essay
An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...
s, ''Chronicles of My Life in the 20th Century'', American author and translator of Japanese literature,
Donald Keene
Donald Lawrence Keene (June 18, 1922 – February 24, 2019) was an American-born Japanese scholar, historian, teacher, writer and translator of Japanese literature. Keene was University Professor emeritus and Shincho Professor Emeritus of Japan ...
mentions his own study of ''kyōgen'' at this time. In 1956, Keene appeared in a performance of the ''kyōgen'' play ''Chidori'' with Takechi in the role of the
sake
Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indee ...
shop owner, before an audience including such prominent authors as
Tanizaki,
Yasunari Kawabata
was a Japanese novelist and short story writer whose spare, lyrical, subtly shaded prose works won him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968, the first Japanese author to receive the award. His works have enjoyed broad international appeal an ...
and
Yukio Mishima
, born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, Nationalism, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was ...
.
Writing that "every form of art" should be popular with the public, Takechi next sought to rejuvenate noh in a similar manner with which he had kabuki and ''kyōgen''. He worked with the avant-garde group
Jikken Kōbō (Experimental Workshop), which had been founded by composers
Tōru Takemitsu
was a Japanese composer and writer on aesthetics and music theory. Largely self-taught, Takemitsu was admired for the subtle manipulation of instrumental and orchestral timbre. He is known for combining elements of oriental and occidental phil ...
,
Jōji Yuasa and other artists in 1951. One of Takechi's more notable productions with the group was a 1955 noh version of
Schoenberg's ''
Pierrot Lunaire
''Dreimal sieben Gedichte aus Albert Girauds "Pierrot lunaire"'' ("Three times Seven Poems from Albert Giraud's 'Pierrot lunaire), commonly known simply as ''Pierrot lunaire'', Op. 21 ("Moonstruck Pierrot" or "Pierrot in the Moonlight"), is a me ...
'' (1912).
In October 1955 he directed Mishima's modern noh play, ''The Damask Drum'' in a theater-in-the-round production at Osaka's Sankei Hall.
Mishima, dubious of Takechi's experimental approach to classical theater, later commented that he felt like a father allowing a disreputable plastic surgeon to operate on his child. Also at Sankei Hall, Takechi directed Mishima's ''Sotoba Komachi'', set as an opera by composer
Mareo Ishiketa, in 1956.
The controversy created by Takechi's experiments with noh made international headlines in 1956. The
International News Service
The International News Service (INS) was a U.S.-based news agency (newswire) founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909. reported that Takechi had introduced elements of
burlesque
A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects. and
striptease
A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner. The person who performs a striptease is commonly known as a "stripper" or an "ex ...
into the slow, stylised artform.
Confirming that Takechi's methods did make the artform popular, his "Burlesque Noh" productions at Tokyo's
Nichigeki Music Hall played to a consistently full house. Again, however, the leaders of the conservative Noh Society of Tokyo threatened any performer who participated in Takechi's productions with excommunication.
From 4 December 1956 to 26 February 1957, Takechi served as the host of the
Nippon Television
JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed su ...
program, ''The Tetsuji Takechi Hour''. The show featured the Takechi Kabuki's interpretations of such Japanese stage classics as ''
Chūshingura is the title given to fictionalized accounts in Japanese literature, theater, and film that relate to the historical incident involving the forty-seven ''rōnin'' and their mission to avenge the death of their master, Asano Naganori. Including the ...
'', and was also known for pushing the limits of the coverage of sexual subjects on television for its time.
Takechi directed two more kabuki performances for the Nissei Theater in Tokyo, not long after it was opened in 1963. Though these would be his last kabuki productions, Takechi's influence on the art form continued to be felt for decades after his departure for the cinema.
Entrance into the cinema
In the early 1960s, Takechi turned from the stage to the cinema. Though the mainstream film industry considered Takechi an amateur and an outsider, he would continue to produce ground-breaking films sporadically for the rest of his life. Some of the innovations and trends in Japanese erotic cinema which Takechi's films pioneered include big-budgets and releases, literary and artistic aspirations,
[Weisser, p.67.] fogging,
[Weisser, p.90.] political themes,
and theatrical hardcore.
Takechi ran afoul of the government throughout his film career. The Weissers, in their ''Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films'', even characterize Takechi's entire film career as "a personal war with
Eirin
The , also known as , is Japan's self-regulatory film regulator. Eirin was established on the model of the now-defunct American Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association's Production Code Administration in June 1949, succeeding t ...
" (the Japanese film-rating board).
[Weisser, p.445.] Turning from the Edo period art form of kabuki to another popular Edo period form of expression, pornography, Takechi decided to enter the film industry through the new genre of low-budget, independent softcore sex-films that were becoming popular in Japan. These films were called ''eroductions'' at this time, but are now more commonly referred to as ''
pink film
in its broadest sense includes almost any Japanese theatrical film that includes nudity (hence 'pink') or deals with sexual content. This encompasses everything from dramas to action thrillers and exploitation film features. The Western equiv ...
s''.
Takechi's first film was ''
A Night in Japan: Woman, Woman, Woman Story'' (''Nihon no yoru: Onna onna onna monogatari'', 1963), a sex-documentary in the ''
mondo'' style popular at the time. The film focused on the women of Japan's night life and included scenes of a nude noh performance,
stripper
A stripper or exotic dancer is a person whose occupation involves performing striptease in a public adult entertainment venue such as a strip club. At times, a stripper may be hired to perform at a bachelor party or other private event.
M ...
s, and
geisha
{{Culture of Japan, Traditions, Geisha
{{nihongo, Geisha, 芸者 ({{IPAc-en, ˈ, ɡ, eɪ, ʃ, ə; {{IPA-ja, ɡeːɕa, lang), also known as {{nihongo, , 芸子, geiko (in Kyoto and Kanazawa) or {{nihongo, , 芸妓, geigi, are a class of female ...
. Produced independently,
Shochiku
() is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not all ...
studios distributed the film, allowing it an international audience. It was released in West Germany on 6 March 1964 as ''Frauen unter nackter Sonne (alle Frauen Japans)''. In the U.S., it opened in Los Angeles under the title ''Women... Oh, Women!'' on 18 September 1964. Later that year, Takechi appeared in an acting role in director
Kaneto Shindō
was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film producer, and writer, who directed 48 films and wrote scripts for 238. His best known films as a director include ''Children of Hiroshima'', ''The Naked Island'', '' Onibaba'', ''Kuroneko'' and ' ...
's ''Mother'' (1963).
''Daydream'' (1964)
The first Japanese mainstream film with nudity was
Seijun Suzuki
, born (24 May 1923 – 13 February 2017), was a Japanese filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter. His films are known for their jarring visual style, irreverent humour, nihilistic cool and entertainment-over-logic sensibility. He made 40 predo ...
's ''
Gate of Flesh
is a 1964 Japanese film based on a novel by Taijiro Tamura and directed by Seijun Suzuki.
Plot
In an impoverished and burnt out Tokyo ghetto of post-World War II Japan, a band of prostitutes defend their territory, squatting in a bombed-out b ...
'', (1964), and Takechi made the first big-budget, mainstream ''pink film'', ''
Daydream
Daydreaming is the stream of consciousness that detaches from current, external tasks when attention drifts to a more personal and internal direction. This phenomenon is common in people's daily life shown by a large-scale study in which partici ...
(白日夢)'', the same year. Like ''Women... Oh, Women!'', ''Daydream'' was produced independently but
Shochiku
() is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not all ...
studios distributed the film. This time, the studio gave Takechi's film a major publicity campaign.
Based on a 1926 short story by
Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
was a Japanese author who is considered to be one of the most prominent figures in modern Japanese literature. The tone and subject matter of his work ranges from shocking depictions of sexuality and destructive erotic obsessions to subtle por ...
,
the film was a black comedy involving a series of sex scenes imagined by an artist under anesthesia in a dentist's office. After being drugged, the artist watches helplessly from the other side of a window as the dentist tortures and performs a series of sexual acts on a female patient.
Though modest in comparison with ''pink films'' which would come soon after, ''Daydream'' did contain female nudity. The government refused to allow one controversial shot, which gave a brief glimpse of pubic hair. Takechi fought the government's censorship of this shot, but lost. When the censors obscured the offending hair with a fuzzy white dot, ''Daydream'' became the first film in Japanese cinema to undergo "
fogging", a common element in Japanese erotic cinema for decades to come.
Despite the governmental tampering, ''Daydream'' became a major success in Japan, and was screened at the
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
in September 1964.
The film was released in the U.S. later the same year,
and in 1966 Joseph Green, director of the cult film ''
The Brain that Wouldn't Die
''The Brain That Wouldn't Die'' (also known as ''The Head That Wouldn't Die'' or ''The Brain That Couldn't Die'') is a 1962 American science fiction horror film directed by Joseph Green and written by Green and Rex Carlton. The film was complete ...
'' (1962) re-released ''Daydream'' in the U.S. with new American footage.
Takechi's third film, ''The Dream of the Red Chamber'' or ''Crimson Dream'' (''Kokeimu(紅閨夢)'', 1964), was released less than two months after ''Daydream''. Based on two short stories "Kasanka Mangansui no Yume" and "Yanagiyu no Jiken" by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, the film depicts the lurid and violently erotic dreams of a writer, his wife and his sister, after having spent a night out drinking and visiting sex shows.
[Weisser, p.94.] ''The Dream of the Red Chamber'' underwent extensive censorship before the government would allow it to be released.
About 20% of the film's original content was cut by Eirin, rendering the film virtually incoherent, and this footage is now considered lost.
''Black Snow'' (1965)
Takechi's ''Daydream'' had been considered a national embarrassment by the Japanese government because of its highly publicized release while the world was focused on the country for the
1964 Tokyo Olympics
The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this hon ...
.
Takechi's third film had suffered heavily from the governmental censorship, yet no legal action had been taken. Takechi's fourth film, the
Nikkatsu
is a Japanese entertainment company known for its film and television productions. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio, founded in 1912 during the silent film era. The name ''Nikkatsu'' amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally ...
-produced ''Black Snow'' (1965), was even more controversial than his previous work.
David Desser David Desser (born 1953) is emeritus professor of cinema studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and former director of that university's Unit for Cinema Studies. He is an expert in Asian cinema, particularly the cinema of Japa ...
credits ''Black Snow'' with bringing a political theme to the ''pink film''. Politics would be featured in many later films in the ''pink'' genre, most notably those of
Kōji Wakamatsu
was a Japanese film director who directed such ''pinku eiga'' films as and . He also produced Nagisa Ōshima's controversial film ''In the Realm of the Senses'' (1976). He has been called "the most important director to emerge in the pink film ...
.
The story of ''Black Snow'' concerns a young man whose mother serves the U.S. military at
Yokota Air Base
, is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) and United States Air Force (USAF) base in the Tama Area, or Western Tokyo.
It occupies portions of Akishima, Fussa, Hamura, Mizuho, Musashimurayama, and Tachikawa.
The base houses 14,000 personnel ...
as a prostitute. Impotent unless making love with a loaded gun, the young man shoots an American G.I., and is then shot down by U.S. soldiers.
The film contained multiple scenes of sexual intercourse, and a lengthy scene of a nude woman running outside Yokota Air Base. However, more than the sex and nudity, it was the political nature of the film which attracted governmental action. Released at a time of widespread demonstration against the renewal of the U.S. Security Treaty, ''Black Snow'' had a clear anti-American theme. Film critic
Tadao Sato
was a Japanese film critic, theorist and historian. His real name was .
Overviews
Born in Niigata, Niigata Prefecture, Japan, He published more than a hundred books on film, and was one of Japan's foremost scholars and historians addressing ...
says that the film uses sex to make a political statement. "In ''Black Snow''... the powerless position of Japan vis-a-vis America, and of the Japanese populace in relation to its rulers is represented by the outraged Japanese women and the G.I. rapists."
Other critics accused the film of racism and ultra-nationalism.
Jasper Sharp writes that though Takechi's films did criticize Japanese society, a theme they share with ''pink films'', Takechi identified the problem as coming from foreign influences, rather than from within. This marks him as a reactionary rather than a revolutionary, as were many ''pink film'' directors.
[Sharp, p. 75.] Takechi himself claimed to be a ''minzoku shugisha'', or "ethnic nationalist", throughout his life. Buruma points out that this ideological affiliation contains a strong racial aspect, and notes that the G.I. the main character murders in ''Black Snow'' is
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
. Buruma comments further, "This, incidentally, has become a standard cliche: whenever G.I.s are shown in Japanese porno films, invariably in the act of outrageously raping Japanese maidens, they are very often blacks to make the outrage seem even worse."
[Buruma, p.57.]
Though the government had accused earlier films of obscenity, ''Black Snow'' became the first film after World War II to be prosecuted by the government on obscenity charges. All copies of the film were confiscated from Nikkatsu and from Takechi's own home, and Takechi was arrested.
The controversy gained international attention with ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reporting that even the two censors who had passed the film were considered for prosecution, and that the government had announced plans to strictly censor the ''pink film'' movement.
Japan's intellectual and artistic community came to Takechi's defense. Film directors
Nagisa Oshima
NaGISA (Natural Geography in Shore Areas or Natural Geography of In-Shore Areas) is an international collaborative effort aimed at inventorying, cataloguing, and monitoring biodiversity of the in-shore area. So named for the Japanese word "nagisa ...
and
Seijun Suzuki
, born (24 May 1923 – 13 February 2017), was a Japanese filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter. His films are known for their jarring visual style, irreverent humour, nihilistic cool and entertainment-over-logic sensibility. He made 40 predo ...
and authors
Yukio Mishima
, born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, Nationalism, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was ...
and
Kōbō Abe
, pen name of , was a Japanese writer, playwright, musician, photographer, and inventor. He is best known for his 1962 novel '' The Woman in the Dunes'' that was made into an award-winning film by Hiroshi Teshigahara in 1964. Abe has often bee ...
testified in Takechi's defense at the trial.
[Weisser, p.68.] Takechi took advantage of every opportunity to publicly speak out against censorship, and one Eirin official later admitted to being "terrified by the man.".
Explicitly linking his interests in kabuki and pornography as forms of expression, in the July 1965 issue of the film journal ''Eiga Geijutsu'', Takechi wrote:
By shutting down ''Black Snow'' and prosecuting Takechi, Eirin had intended to suppress the new ''pink film'' genre,
but the trial had the exact opposite outcome. The publicity surrounding the trial brought the ''pink film'' genre to the attention of the general public, and helped inspire the wave of ''pink films'' which dominated Japan's domestic cinema for the next two decades.
After ''Black Snow''
During the legal battles of the trial, Takechi filmed a ''pink film'' re-telling of ''
The Tale of Genji'',
which, like Tanizaki's work, contains eroticism in the original, though not of a sexually-explicit nature. On 17 September 1967, Takechi won the ''Black Snow'' case.
He also successfully countersued the government claiming that the accusation of indecency was politically motivated, due to the film's anti-American and anti-capitalist themes.
Takechi's next film after the trial was ''
Ukiyo-e Cruel Story'' (1968), starring the current "Queen" of ''Pink films'',
Noriko Tatsumi
is a Japanese actress known primarily for her appearances in '' pink films'' of the 1960s. During the "First Wave" of ''pink film'', Tatsumi became known as the first "Queen" of Japanese softcore sex movies, a title which she held from 1967 thro ...
. The Weissers call this film, about a painter of erotic pictures who is persecuted by the government, "Takechi's personal message to Eirin." Though still containing significant erotic content, this is one of Takechi's few films to pass the censor relatively un-edited, perhaps because Eirin saw the obvious anti-governmental censorship message in the film, and did not wish to be provoked into another embarrassing public confrontation with the outspoken director.
Though he had won his court case, Takechi had become known as a risky and dangerous entity in the film world. Newspapers refused to advertise his films,
and Takechi spent the next decade concentrating on writing projects.
After his friend, the writer Yukio Mishima, committed
''hara-kiri'' in 1970, Takechi wrote ''The Head of Yukio Mishima'', a best-selling, fictionalized version of the incident.
[Weisser, p.91.] In 1972, he again appeared in an acting role for director
Kaneto Shindō
was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film producer, and writer, who directed 48 films and wrote scripts for 238. His best known films as a director include ''Children of Hiroshima'', ''The Naked Island'', '' Onibaba'', ''Kuroneko'' and ' ...
in his
Art Theatre Guild Art Theatre Guild (ATG) was a film production company in Japan that started in 1961 and ran through to the mid-1980s, releasing mostly Japanese New Wave and arthouse films.
History
ATG began as an independent agency which distributed foreign films ...
film based on a
Tanizaki novel, ''
Sanka
Sanka is a brand of instant decaffeinated coffee, sold around the world, and was one of the earliest decaffeinated varieties. Sanka is distributed in the United States by Kraft Heinz.
History
Decaffeinated coffee was developed in 1903 by a team ...
''.
Return to film
In 1981, the then 68-year-old Takechi decided to return to film with a series of theatrical hardcore films, beginning with a remake of his 1964 ''Daydream'', also titled ''
Daydream
Daydreaming is the stream of consciousness that detaches from current, external tasks when attention drifts to a more personal and internal direction. This phenomenon is common in people's daily life shown by a large-scale study in which partici ...
''. Noticing actress
Kyōko Aizome
is a Japanese erotic actress, singer, writer, and AV and film director. She has been called "the first hard-core porn actress in Japan".
Life and career
Early life
Kyōko Aizome was born in Noda Chiba Prefecture. She grew up in a troubled hou ...
in one of her nude photo magazine appearances, Takechi chose her to star in the film. Japan's first theatrically released film featuring hardcore sex, Aizome added to the controversy surrounding the film by admitting to having performed actual sexual intercourse on camera. Though, as Japanese law required, sexual organs and pubic hair were fogged on screen, the
Asahi Shimbun
is one of the four largest newspapers in Japan. Founded in 1879, it is also one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. Its circulation, which was 4.57 million for its morning edition and ...
called it a breakthrough film, and Japan's first hardcore pornographic movie.
Takechi took a novel, yet traditional approach to the fogging by covering the forbidden areas with floating images of topless female shamisen players. Unlike Takechi's earlier ''Dream of the Red Chamber'', the full, uncensored version of ''Daydream 1981'' did survive, and circulated underground in Japan.
[Weisser, p.90-91.] This uncensored version of the film was released on video at one time in the Netherlands.
Takechi's next film, ''
Courtesan
Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress (lover), mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the Royal cour ...
'' (''Oiran'', 1983), like his ''Daydream'' films, was based on a Tanizaki novel.
Three studios were involved in the production: Fujii Movies, Ogawa Productions, and Takechi Film. The film is set at the end of the 19th century, and tells the story of a Yokohama prostitute who services American sailors. The woman is possessed by the spirit of her dead lover, who, in erotic scenes echoing ''
The Exorcist
''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 novel of the same name. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty W ...
'' (1973), makes his presence known whenever she is sexually aroused. Because of the large budget involved in the production, the distributing studio submitted ''Courtesan'' to Eirin repeatedly, and agreed to every cut the reviewing board recommended. The heavy cutting the film received reduced it from near-hardcore to a very softcore historical drama.
[Weisser, p.27.] Takechi again took advantage of the situation to fight Eirin, and complained publicly about the censorship.
When he noticed that the censors had painted over a penis with colors, he ridiculed them by promoting his film with the line, "See the first multicolored penis in Japanese Cinema!"
After this bout with the censors, Takechi vowed to produce a true, hardcore film for Japanese audiences. The result was ''Sacred Koya'' (''Koya Hijiri''), based on a work by
Kyōka Izumi
, real name , was a Japanese people, Japanese author of novels, short stories, and kabuki plays who was active during the Empire of Japan, prewar period.
Kyōka's writing differed greatly from that of the naturalist writers who dominated the li ...
. He refused to allow the film to be censored in any way, either through cutting or fogging. Refusing to release the film in Japan, he did not submit it for Eirin's approval. Instead, he released it in
Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
, where it played primarily to Japanese tourist audiences for several years under the U.S.'s more liberal pornography laws.
Takechi's last film was another remake of ''Daydream'' in 1987, again starring Kyōko Aizome. Though it was a low-budget, independent production which again underwent censorship in Japan, it became very popular in its uncensored form in France.
Takechi's come-back films of the 1980s were all in a theatrical hardcore style. Released during the dawn of the AV, or adult video, and the height of
Nikkatsu
is a Japanese entertainment company known for its film and television productions. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio, founded in 1912 during the silent film era. The name ''Nikkatsu'' amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally ...
's softcore ''Roman porno'' films, his films fit into neither style. Jasper Sharp writes, "His big-budget pornos came from a different world to that of the pink and Roman Porno films. There was nothing else like them at the time, and consequently they had little influence on domestically-produced sex films. Takechi died of
pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...
the following year, on 26 July 1988. Without a major studio's backing or interest from the general ''pink film'' community, Takechi's name and films faded into obscurity in Japan. In 2006 his career was the subject of a full retrospective showing in Tokyo's Image Forum in 2006.
Legacy
Jasper Sharp points out that the Japanese and western views of Takechi's legacy are quite different. While western sources assess him as a major figure in the early development of the ''pink film'', many current Japanese sources on the subject ignore his work. Sharp notes, however, that during his lifetime, he was covered prominently in Japanese sources. He speculates that his legacy has been largely forgotten in his homeland partly because of his status as an outsider in the Japanese film communities—both mainstream and ''pink''. Since his films were self-produced and distributed by major film companies rather than through the ''eroduction'' circuit, they are not technically ''pink films''. Also, his right-wing political background conflicts with the generally revolutionary stance more often associated with the ''pink film''. Since his death in 1988, the lack of a studio or other publicist, or coverage by writers on the ''pink film'' has kept his work out of the public's eye in Japan. In the west, however, some of Takechi's films, such as ''Daydream'' were shown during their first runs, reviewed by major publications such as ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'', and have been preserved and remained available to genre audiences on home video releases.
[Sharp, pp. 47, 71-75.]
During his lifetime, Takechi's innovations and contributions to Japanese theater in general and to kabuki specifically were influential for decades. His theoretical work, as well as his mentoring of several important stars, helped bring about a rebirth in kabuki after World War II.
His contributions to cinema were much more controversial. Considered a dilettante outsider by much of the film industry, and suspected of
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
and
nationalism
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
by others,
his work was nevertheless defended by the younger generation of filmmakers such as Seijun Suzuki and Nagisa Oshima.
Though his films are today unknown to most Japanese filmgoers, through his career-long fight against censorship, the taboos which his films helped break, and the creative freedom which he helped enable, he remains an important figure in Japanese cinema.
Filmography
Selected writings
Notes
Sources
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External links
The Complete Works of Tetsuji Takechi retrospective at the Theatre Image Forumheld beginning on 28 October 2006 (in Japanese)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Takechi, Tetsuji
1912 births
1988 deaths
Deaths from pancreatic cancer
Japanese film directors
Pink film directors
Japanese pornographic film directors
Japanese theatre directors
Japanese writers
Kyoto University alumni
People from Osaka
Deaths from cancer in Japan